The age-old dispute (well it certainly feels like it) over illegal music downloading - despite years of legal wrangling, scaremongering lawsuits, Napster, Limewire and all the rest of it, there is still a huge amount of work remaining to be done before all the various interested parties here are satisfied. However, there is now talk in Westminster of introducing a new solution which might ’solve the problem’ (if only things were so simple). So question is what is it - and could it work?
The premise is fairly simple - driven by a direct reconfiguration of responsibilities and re-direction of revenue streams. Basically ISP’s would be made liable for illegal file-sharing, but in return for accepting this burden (and incentive to…
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The equation is pretty simple: as the quality of modern broadband provision increases, so too does the range of content that can be accessed illegally. A decade ago an evening’s Napster haul could rarely extend to beyond a few single mp3s, mostly chosen from a fairly narrow selection of what was currently popular. Now a few hours’ downloading can easily yield a hundred chart albums, maybe even a few Hollywood films, computer games or other software. It’s no wonder that the people responsible for publishing this content are keen to reclaim a market they used to rule, and in which now they are increasingly seen as out-dated ogres, selfishly refusing to share, like a child hoarding toys. Their latest lifeline…
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